Turkish Olympiad

A-   Turkish as Second Language Tournaments

1. Turkish Language Test
2. Singing Contest
3. Poetry Contest
4. Talent Contest
5. Country (STATE) Exhibition Contest
6. Picture & Figure Contest
7. Folklore Contest

1- Turkish Language Test:

Definition: It is a competition where students are tested on their grammatical, reading, listening, understanding, vocabulary   skills in the Turkish language. This competition identifies the students' use of Turkish language efficiently and correctly. All Turkish class students must take the exam! Elementary and Secondary school students will take two different exams. First five students will be rewarded.

Rules:

• Five students from each school will be qualified to attend the cluster competition.
• There are 50 questions in the Turkish Language Test; it consists of grammer, listening, reading and vocabulary sections. 
  The test will be prepared by the Olympiad Organization Committee. 

2- Singing Contest:

Definition: It is a competition where students are tested on their singing and using proper Turkish Language skills.

Rules:

• The singing competition consists of two parts, a qualifying round and final round. In qualifying round, at most two students can attend from each school to clusters' elimination.
• For the singing competition, students who attended the Turkish International Olympiad previously are not permitted in the competition in 2009.
• For singing competition, students are required to be between the ages of 13 and 19.
• The students who attended the signing competition in their states last year can only attend with a different song.
• Schools participating in the state competition should provide their own background music. 
• Basic level questions will be asked to students who attend the state singing competition. It is required to give a correct answer to at least 50% of the questions. In order for the students to participate in this year's Turkish Olympiad, they must answer 50% of the questions correctly; otherwise they will not be able to attend.

Evaluation Criteria

3- Poetry Competition:

Definition: Students who are learning the Turkish language will show their appreciation to the language by reading a poem.

Rules:

• The Poetry Competition is a preliminary round to which only one student from every school can attend to cluster‘s elimination. After the evaluation, only the first three places will be able to attend the pre-elimination round in Houston. In poetry competition, students are required to be between the ages of 13 and 19 and students attended the Turkish International Olympiad previously are not permitted in the competition in 2010.
• Basic level questions will be asked to students who attend state poetry competition. It is required to give correct answer to at least 50% of the questions.
• Students who cannot answer more than 50% of the questions will not be allowed to proceed to the following round.
• Students who attend the final poetry competition will have to limit their poems to 4 minutes each.
• The students who attended the poetry competition in their states last year can only attend with a different poem.

Evaluation Criteria

4- Talent Competition:

Definition: It is a competition where students show their acting and mimicking skills by using body language.

Rules:

• Talent Competition is a preliminary competition.
• In this competition, students are required to be between the ages of 13 and 19, and students who have attended the Turkish International Olympiad previously may not be admitted into the competition in 2010. Talent presentations are limited to 3 minutes. The first 5 place students will be awarded. Students can attend alone or with at most one partner.

• Basic level questions will be asked to students who attend this competition. It is required to give correct answers to at least 50% of questions.
• Students who could not answer more than 50% of the questions will not be allowed to proceed to the following final round.

Evaluation Criteria:

The jury evaluates the competitors on stage performance, gestures, use of the Turkish language appropriately, originality, relation to Turkish culture, and the audience response to their performance.

5- Country exhibition stand competitions:

Definition: Students who are attending the writing, speaking, grammar, and singing competition will show their skills to represent their countries. They will do this by showing the cultural richness, history, and art of their country.

Rules:

• Every school needs to prepare one stand, and it will be shown during the Final on April 3, 2010.
• Project stands should include items from their respective country. Students must be able to explain the different items they brought. Countries are responsible for safely transporting their items. Stands will be open for two days and will be in a separate location from the awards ceremony. Participation is a group effort and will be evaluated by their group's performance. 
• Possible stand items include the countries flag, pictures of political leaders, information about country, video about group's country, traditional clothing, and ornaments from their country, brochures, laptop presentations, and maps.

• Stand sizes should be at least (3x4 - 4x4).
• Project stands will be awarded in five different categories depending on their state languages and locations.

Evaluation Criteria:

The project stands will be judged on: origionality, richness, uniquness, visuality, information, and people appreciation. The jury will visit each stand and will evaluate them. Project stands will be evaluated by six different jury members.

6. Art Contest:  

Definition:

Students will create an artistic representation of a location about Turkey they have visited, an experience they have had, or an idea or theme they wish to convey to the audience.

Goal: To demonstrate visual and art skills.

Rules:    

Everyone is welcome.

The artist is free to choose any appropriate medium.

The size of paintings or drawings should be 35 x 50 cm.

Each school can submit a maximum five works of art.

All art should be original, unpublished, and not previously used in any competition.

All art work should be labeled on the back with the participants' first and last name, address, phone number, and e-mail address.

All art work should be mailed out to Cosmos Foundation by March 5, 2010.

It should be addressed to Mehmet Okumus.

Cosmos Foundation Address

 9431 West Sam Houston Pkwy S. Suite: 202

Houston, Texas, 77099

Results will be announced in April 4, 2010.

Students' artwork will be displayed to audiences on April 4, 2010.  Some artworks may be kept by the Turkish Olympiad to be exhibited in other venues.

Assessment Criteria:                                                        

Artwork is appropriate for the subject's theme.

Visual harmony and symmetry

Originality

Artistic and aesthetic value.

Awards:

Awards (Per category):

School wide

•1.      $50            

•2.      $40

•3.      $30

•4.      $20

•5.      $10

State wide (TEXAS)

    1.  $150

    2.  $125

    3.  $100

    4.  $75

    5.  $50

State wide (OKARMO)

1.    $150

2.    $100

3.   $75

4.   $50

5.    $30

Competition Calendar:

School Eliminations              : To be determined by School Principals

Cluster Eliminations : To be determined by Cluster Superintendent

Turkish Oliympiad Elimination in Houston          : April 1, 2010

Turkish Oliympiad Finals in Hobby Center          : April 3, 2010